Known for its surrealism and bizarre themes of horror, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared made an iconic reputation for itself on YouTube in the early 2010s. Presenting itself as a colorful children’s television show, much like Sesame Street, coalesced with violence and dark comedy that hide thinly under the surface. The juxtaposition of chipper singing puppets and gory folk horror is what made this series a great success on YouTube’s platform, quickly earning its massive fanbase in the company of thousands of theories and analyses, all on the show’s recurring cryptic themes.
Created by artists Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling, this crowdfunded web series has now accumulated over 216 million views on YouTube in only six episodes. These videos would be slowly uploaded over the period of four years, 2011 to 2015, but this never seemed to discourage their dedicated fans. Each episode is carefully handmade with felt puppets and felt life-sized furniture.. with the artistic touch of offal-stuffed horrors. The careful attention to detail and hidden messages are what made the YouTube series so overwhelmingly successful.
Now, over six years since the last webisode, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared has finally moved to television in the U.K (Thankfully, all of these episodes have already been uploaded onto YouTube for everybody to watch).
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